Showing posts with label tagore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tagore. Show all posts

November 6, 2020

Rangiye Diye Jao (Brighten me please)

Translation of Tagore's Rangiye Diye Jao 

Brighten me please before you leave this time -- 
    in your own hue, 
    in your secret shade, 
    in juvenile glee's perky tint, 
    in teardrop's touching tone. 
Brighten me please before you leave this time. 

Let the hue touch my spirit, be of use in each action 
Let the hue touch my spirit, let it kindle twilights' tip, 
    let it help me go through the night's dark
Brighten me please before you leave this time. 

Wake me up before you leave, 
    stir up my blood with your steps' swings. 
Wake me up before you leave. 

The way stars bloom in the dark night's bosom, 
    brooks spring inside chambers of rock-caves,
    cloud's voicefulness erupts inside its chest, 
    rhythm begins at the core of universal dance, 
Sway me likewise, walk me to the exit way, 
   shoo the bondage of lament. 
Brighten me please before you leave this time.

March 21, 2020

Prano bhoriye

To life's brim, past desire's end
give me more and more of life.
In your universe, at your dwelling
grant me more and more space. 
More luminance, more radiance
into these eyes, o lord, you pour 
Fluting in melody after melody
give me more and more tune
More agony, more misery
O Lord, give me more sense.
Opening doorways, knocking down barriers
offer me relief, offer me refuge.
In agape, in even more agape
let my ego keep drowning.
By nectar's bank, of yourself
bestow more and more and more.

January 23, 2016

A Stream Of Joy

This had been a wonderful week for me in terms of revisiting Tagore!

A couple of weeks back, I had this request to translate a song by Tagore from a local didi - Bengali for sister. Before sharing my translation with her, I sought feedback from friends and family whose opinion matters to me. And some wonderful discussions emerged.

I got to hear from a young scholar about his view on Tagore. More about that in a later post.

Then I got to discuss with my baba [Bengali for father.] I fondly remember reading his copy of Chinnapatra [A book that had assorted letters of Tagore] during my school days. My dad, in his beautiful handwriting, had written, during his college days, on the margins of each letter references to Tagore's poems and other works making it an interesting reference book.

During one such exchange, a dear friend (more like a younger brother) Sid Chattopadhyay - an extremely talented musician [Listen to his album Jolchobi at Amazon Digital Music] requested me to translate his favorite "Aanondo dhara bohichey bhuboney." And I thought of giving it a try.

Below is my humble attempt. Comments are always appreciated!

A Stream of Joy

A stream of joy flows through the universe,
day and night, into infinite sky spills over much nectar.
That sun and moon drink with cupped palms -
ever bright their unfailing light -
replete earth each day with life and rays.
Why do you sit absent-minded?
Self-engrossed for what reason?
Look around broadening thy heart,
ignoring all little sorrows
fill up your empty life with love.


San Jose, CA
January 23, 2016



January 14, 2016

My Beloved's Shadow

My translation of a song by Rabindranath Tagore (from his Nature/Monsoon phase written in 1938.)

My beloved's shadow
Alas, today in the sky floats!
Alas, in the dreary rain-soaked air.

My beloved between the clouds
Hiding in the evening star beholds whom,
Alas, elided light of the evening lamp she recalls.

With the rain-dripped forest-fragrance
Touch-less welcome-garland weaves my beloved.

My beloved in dense monsoon-pour
All over the sky loses her mind.
My beloved's anchal swings
Alas, in the deep forest's dark outbursts.

San Jose, USA
January 14, 2016


Below is the original song in Bengali script.





January 27, 2014

If You Love Someone by Tagore

If you love someone
Set him free.
If he returns
He is yours.
If he doesn't
Yours he never was

And never will be.

January 10, 2011

The Year 1994

A century from today
who are you reading my poetry
curiously,
A century from today!
This new spring morning's
fraction of joy,
some flower of today, some song of a bird,
some crimson glow of today –
soaking in affection will I be able to send
to your hands
a century from today?!

Still, for once, opening the south doorway
sitting in the terrace
gazing at the distant horizon,
steeped in imagination,
think in your mind –
one day a century ago
a restless bundle of joy drifting from which heaven
came and touched the heart of the universe,
new springday absolutely unfettered
insane impatient,
flapping restless wings flower-scented
southern breeze
suddenly bustling in had painted the earth
in youth's colors,
a century before yours.
That day in a restless soul, inside a song-infused heart
a poet awoke -
tried to blossom so many words flower-like
with so much affection,
one day a century ago.

A century from today
who the new poet is singing
at your homes!
This spring's joyous greetings
I send to his palm.
Let my springsong on your springday
resonate awhile –
in your heartbeat, in bee's new murmur,
in leave's rustle
a century from today.

Translation of Tagore's Saal 1400. Tagore wrote this in 1896, 17 year before he received Nobel prize for literature.

Note: Saal is Bengali for year and1400 in Bengali calendar is 1994. 

November 11, 2009

Me

By the color of my consciousness emerald is green,
ruby turns red.
I open my eyes to the sky-
light flares up
into the east and the west.
glancing at the rose I utter 'beautiful'-
beautiful it becomes.

A philosophy, not a poet's verse, you'll say.
Truth it is I'll reply
hence poetry.
This is my pride,
pride on behalf of the entire mankind.
On man's ego-canvas
the heavenly architect creates his universal art.
The theologist on every breath is reciting silently --
no, no, no-
neither emerald nor ruby, neither light nor rose,
neither me nor you.
On the other hand, the Infinite, who himself prayed
inside man’s limit,
is called “me.”
In the deep of that ‘me’ blend light and darkness,
appears beauty, kindles spirit;
‘no’ suddenly blossoms into ‘yes,’ in illusion’s spell,
in lines and colors, in happiness and despair.

Don’t call it a theory-
Delighted is my mind
in universal-me’s creation bash
with brush in the hand, and color in the palette.

The expert is saying-
The old moon, his smile cruel and clever
Crawling like a death-messenger towards earth’s ribcage.
Someday it will exert the ultimate pull at its mountain and sea;
On the planet will descend a full-page zero
in eternity’s new book,
will engulp the savings of night and day;
Man’s achievement will lose the vanity of immortality,
on its history will smear
the endless night’s soot.
Man’s farewell-bidding eyes
will extract color from earth
Man’s departing-day’s soul
will mop up the flavor.
Power will vibrate from sky to sky,
light will glow nowhere.
In the speechless concert, musicians' fingers will move,
no tune will play.
That day, poetic-less Lord will sit alone
in the blueless sky
with the logic of personality-less existence
Then in the vast universe
far and far away, among the endless, countless worlds and the next
this sound will not echo anywhere-
‘you are beautiful’,
‘I love’.
Will the Lord sit down again to pray
for eons
reciting in the dissolute-evening
‘please speak, please speak’
uttering, ‘say, you are beautiful’,
uttering, ‘say, I love’?